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The Hearthfallow (History)
The Hearthfallow In ages past, when the seasons were in flux and each produced its own Fae, the prospect of war was always on the horizon. Each season sought to spread its influence, testing at the two on its borders. Summer’s heat grew intense, its lands drying out. Autumn’s harvest rotted, its bounty stagnating from overabundance. Winter’s chill deepened, keeping the earth in a sleep like death. And Spring grew to bursting, seemingly uncontainable. The inhabitants of each season knew that this could not go on. It was an unsustainable existence, one that would bring catastrophe to -all- seasons if left unchecked. For a time untold, however, it seemed that their Kings and Queens would be too proud to meet with their counterparts and attempt to solve the problem, as they had warred and feuded for far too long to turn back, to change. And so it was that the younger Fae of each season, more able to move between them, less constrained by eons of rigid pride, came together. They devised a plan that would create -balance- among the seasons, rather than constant struggle for dominance, a plan that would give each its necessary place in the cycle. Spring would hold sway over new life, the beginning of all things; it would thus be the only season in which new Fae were born, to grow and choose their own homes. Summer would warm the earth with its long days, touch the new life born in Spring, prepare for the harvest. Autumn would -be- that harvest, reaping what had been sown, making the land ready for rest. Lastly, Winter would be the land’s time to recover, to sleep and dream of its awakening in Spring, where the cycle would continue. Those who had been chosen to take up the mantles of the Kings and Queens gathered; they wrought a great magic, with the aid of the rulers who were aloof from the conflict -- but who grew tired of the constant strife -- such as the Princesses of the Sun and Moon. Artifacts were placed on the borders of each season, items imbued with great power, the power to change the way that the magic, the mantle, unique to each realm, interacted with each other. And then, with time, the changes took effect. The old Kings and Queens diminished in power, eventually dwindling away. Those who had been chosen to replace them took up their mantles. It was the end and beginning of the cycle, however, that was most difficult to put into place. The transition between Winter and Spring, the transfer of the power to create new Fae from each season to rest solely with the greenest. To this end, yet another artifact was created. It would ease the transition, the awakening, bringing Spring and Winter closer together. But its creation, wrought only by two of the seasons, carried a quiet echo of the unbalance that had been resolved. An ability not to unmake the new paradigm, but to change it further, to influence precisely -how- new life would be created. This item, the Hearthfallow, lay buried and forgotten for another long stretch of eons. But then, by chance and the influence of an outside force, it was found once more, by the current King of Winter. And when he realized its power, something awoke in him that hearkened back to those ages long past. A time when dominance over the other seasons was possible, a tangible goal to be striven for. And so he began to plan for the future.